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2013–2014 Call for Teacher - Partners

Professional Development and Curriculum Support Opportunities for K-12 Teachers.

The KBS GK-12 Project: Ecological Dimensions of Bioenergy Sustainability

The KBS GK-12 Project on the Ecological Dimensions of Bioenergy Sustainabilityis now accepting applications for GK-12 Teacher Partners for 2013–14.

Brief Overview:

This project is funded by a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Graduate Education(NSF DGE-0947896). NSF recognizes that STEM graduate students can contribute to the national effort to advance STEM knowledge in K-12 learning settings through partnerships between institutions of higher education andK-12 schools. These partnerships offer graduate students an opportunity to bring leading-edge research practices and findings to K-12 learning settings. GraduateStudent Fellowsare meant to serve as role models to K-12 studentsand help stimulate their interest in STEM disciplines.

  • Graduate StudentFellows are from MSU’s Ecology, Evolutionary Biology & Behavior (EEBB) and Environmental Science & Public Policy (ESPP) programs, many of whom are engaged in STEM research at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS).
  • Project Partners include the DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) Sustainability Research Group, our NSF Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project on the ecology of agricultural landscapes,MSU’s Center for Research on College Science Teaching and Learning (CRCSTL), and the KBS K-12 Partnership for Science Literacy.
  • Teacher Partners are K-12 teachers from 15 local school districts that form the KBS K-12 Partnership for Science Literacy. Teachers are paired with GK-12 graduate student fellows in a year-long relationship. Teacher Partners provide fellows with K-12 classroom and teaching experience. Fellows work with teacher partners to improve curricula and student learning, in part by utilizing established schoolyard science research plots (BEST plots) in K-12 Partner districts.

Learn More About GK-12 and the KBS K-12 Partnership:

The NSF synopsis of the national GK-12 program is at:

A slideshow overview of the KBS GK-12 project is available at: a summary of the proposal is available at:

The KBS GK-12 project and fellows work with teachers and districts in the KBS K-12 Partnership:

We also work in partnership with the KBS Long-term Ecological Research Project (LTER: and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC: ).

Benefits and Responsibilities for GK-12 Teacher Partners:

The general expectations for GK-12 Teacher Partners are that they be active participants in the KBS K-12 Partnership, including workshops and institutes, and in research and educational activities associated with the BEST (BioEnergy SusTainability) Schoolyard Research Network. Specific expectations are worked out in consultation with the KBS K-12 Teacher Advisory Committee (TAC). Activities include hosting a Fellow in the district up to 10 hours per week and working with district administrators and teachers, fellows, and GK-12 project leaders toplan and manage project activities within the district. Fellows are expected to have opportunities to lead project-related classroom activities on occasion.

NSF provides a modest stipendto support K-12 teacher participation in project activities as a Teacher Partner, including participation in workshops, institutes, and after-hours mentoring of fellows through the project. Each semester, the stipend is $1500 for hosting a full-time Fellow, and $750 if a Fellow is shared among two Teacher Partners. We seek to encourage broad, long-term participation by district teachers while maintaining clearly defined responsibilities for hosting fellows and managing project activities. To achieve this balance, each fellow will be partnered with either one or two Teacher Partner(s) per semester. Teacher Partner assignments are rotated from year to year to accommodate teacher interest and encourage broad participation. This allows many teachers in each district to be engaged with the project over the next two years, while individual teachers take turns serving as Teacher Partners, responsible for managing project and fellow activities in any given year.

NSF stipulates that fellows will spend a maximum of 15 hours per week directly involved in GK-12 project activities, with approximately 10 of these hours devoted to activities in K-12 partner districts or at KBS.

To Apply:

To apply, please submit(1)a completed application form (below), and (2)a letter of support from your principal. Your principal’s letter of support should demonstrate a familiarity with the general goals and expectations of the NSF GK-12 program and the KBS GK-12 project. Questions, unsigned application forms, and recommendation letters should e-mailed to Tom Getty and Sarah Bodbyl via . Signatures can be added to the applications of selected Partner Teachers at the May Orientation meeting (Date TBA). Review of applications will begin April 1, 2013.

2013–2014 GK-12 Partner Teacher Application

Kellogg Biological Station’s Ecological Dimensions of Bioenergy Sustainability Project

Review of applications will begin April1, 2013

Date (mm/dd/yy): (you can type into the box-form-field on the left)

Applicant Name (first last):

District:

School:

Email Address:

Current Phone Number:

Please list in chronological order all colleges and universities attended after high school:

Name of Institution / Degree and Date / Field of Study

How many years have you been teaching?

Please initial next to each of the following indicating that you read the resources provided and have familiarized yourself with our new GK-12 project and the KBS K-12 Partnership (copy and paste the links into your internet browser):

The NSF synopsis of the national GK-12 program:

An overview of the KBS GK-12 project:

A Summary of the proposal:

An overview of the KBS K-12 Partnership:

Please describe ways in which you envision working with fellows to achieve general NSF program goals and specific KBS GK-12 project goals.

Briefly describe ways in which you would communicate with your partner fellow as he/she progressed in your classroom.

How might you evaluate the fellows’ skills and progress relative to the goals stated by NSF and in our proposal?

What class do you anticipate teaching in the 2013–2014 academic year that will be most related to the GK-12 project theme of understanding the ecology and sustainability of bioenergy production?

1. Course Title:

2. Grade Level:

3. Common Course Activities (i.e. inquiry, lab/field experiments, lab reports, reading, watching videos):

4. How might the bioenergy sustainability theme for our GK-12 program be integrated into this course?

5. How might you incorporate the research skills, scientific knowledge, and expertise of a GK-12 Fellow into your classroom curriculum (be as specific as possible)?

Does your district have one or more blocks of BEST plots installed? If so, to what extent do you anticipate being involved in long-term (over the course of the GK-12 grant) research on those plots?

Please check here to indicate that you have discussed your application and with your school principal, and that you have arranged for your principal to submit a letter of support for your participation in KBS GK-12 project as a GK-12 Teacher Partner.